Canadian

Institute of Actuaries


Casualty
Actuarial Society


Society
of Actuaries

Guidelines for Approval of
VEE Courses and Educational Experiences
The following guidelines for the three Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements
are used by the VEE Administration Committee to determine whether or not specific courses or
educational experiences are appropriate to fulfill the VEE requirements. The Application for
Approval of Course/Experience for Validation by Educational Experience Credit must be
submitted to the VEE Administration Committee along with the required documentation. If a
course/educational experience is approved, it will be added to the Directory of Approved VEE
Courses/Experiences or the Standardized Exams and Other Educational Experiences list on
the CAS (www.casact.org) and SOA (www.soa.org) Web Sites.
VEEApplied Statistical Methods
Courses that meet this requirement may be taught in the mathematics, statistics, or economics
department, or in the business school. In economics departments, this course may be called
Econometrics. The material could be covered in one course or two. The mathematical
sophistication of these courses will vary widely and all levels are intended to be acceptable. Some
analysis of real data should be included. Most of the topics listed below should be covered:

Regression analysis
Least square estimates of parameters
Single linear regression
Multiple linear regression
Hypothesis testing and confidence intervals in linear regression models
Testing of models, data analysis and appropriateness of models

Time series/forecasting
Linear time series models
Moving average, autoregressive and/or ARIMA models
Estimation, data analysis and forecasting with time series models
Forecast errors and confidence intervals

VEECorporate Finance
The typical corporate finance program covers the topics below in two semesters with an
introductory course followed by a more advanced semester. If the second course covers most of
the topics, then only the second course will be required. Where the topics are split across two
semesters or courses, both will be required. The exceptional case where the corporate finance
topics are covered in only one course, with no finance prerequisite, will also be considered,
however, this will typically be at a more advanced level than a course designed for general
business students. Most of the topics listed below should be covered:

Definitions of key finance terms: stock company; capital structure
Key finance concepts: financing companies; characteristics and uses of financial instruments;
sources of capital; cost of capital; dividend policy; personal and corporate taxation
Factors to be considered by a company when deciding on its capital structure and dividend
policy
Impact of financial leverage and long/short term financing policies on capital structure
Characteristics of the principal forms of financial instruments issued or used by companies, and
the ways in which they may be issued
How a company's cost of capital relates to the investment projects the company wishes to
undertake
Definitions of key finance terms: financial instruments bond, stock, basic options (calls, puts);
dividends; price to earnings ratio
Structure of a stock company and the different methods by which it may be financed
Calculate value of stocks
Measures of financial performance: balance sheet; income statement; statement of cash flows;
financial ratios (e.g. leverage, liquidity, profitability, market value ratios); net present value: the
payback, discounted payback models; internal rate of return and profitability index models
Assessment of financial performance using various measures: balance sheet; income statement;
statement of cash flows, financial ratios (e.g. leverage, liquidity, profitability, market value
ratios); net present value; the payback, discounted payback models; internal rate of return and
profitability index models

VEEEconomics
Typically, the VEE requirement for economics will be met if a candidate has completed two
economics courses, one course covering microeconomics and the other covering
macroeconomics. Most of the topics listed below should be covered:

Microeconomics
Interaction between supply and demand in the provision of a product and the way in which
equilibrium market prices are determined
Elasticity of demand and supply and the effects on a market of different levels of elasticity
How rational utility maximizing agents make consumption choices
How profit-maximizing firms make short run and long run production choices
Different types of competition, or lack of it, and the practical effect on supply and demand

Macroeconomics
Structure of public sector finances of an industrialized economy
GDP, GNP, and Net National Product. How these concepts are used in describing the economy
and in making comparisons between countries, and their limitations
Propensity to save or to consume by the private sector or the corporate sector and how it affects
the economy
Impact of fiscal and monetary policy and other forms of government intervention on different
aspects of the economy, and in particular on financial markets
Role of exchange rates and international trade in the economy and the meaning of the term
balance of payments
Major factors affecting the rate of inflation, the level of interest rates, the exchange rate, the
level of unemployment, and the rate of economic growth in the economy of an industrialized
country
<Revised: 7 J uly 2008>